In 2009, author and illustrator Maira Kalman set out on a tour of the United States, stopping in small towns and major cities, visiting schools, homes, archives, museums, governmental agencies, and national sites. In her monthly illustrated blog posts, published by the New York Times, she shared her observations and thoughts on topics as wide-ranging as democracy and cherry pie and Mt. Vernon and happiness. Her February column was dedicatedto Abraham Lincoln, a man she believes "would have been the most incredible boyfriend."
Just in time for Lincoln's birthday comes Kalman's book Looking at Lincoln, which was inspired by the project she worked on for the Rosenbach Museum and Library in Philadelphia, PA, and by her New York Times blog entries.Lincoln's narrator takes readers from the president's birthplace in Kentucky in 1809 to the site of his assassination in Washington, D.C., in 1865, to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial where readers can look into his "beautiful eyes" and read the words he wrote near the end of the Civil War: "'...With malice toward none, with charity for all.'"
Kalman's colorful illustrations, both humorous and poignant, paint a picture of the life of our 16th president through details that children will respond to, including favorite foods and scenes of family life.
When did you fall in love with Abe Lincoln? I fell in love with A. Lincoln when I went to the Rosenbach Library in Philadelphia around three or four years ago. They had asked me to do a piece on Lincoln based on their archive. That was the beginning. Then I started collecting many books and looking at photographs. He was the first president to be photographed and he understood how important it was. I am still a little annoyed that he was with Mary Todd and not me. But such is life.
Pink isn't the color I usually associate with Lincoln, but it's a predominant color in the book. Can you talk a bit about your color choices? Pink is the color that follows me around everywhere. I can't stop it from jumping into my paintings. And Lincoln had a great sense of humor. Of course he had his dark moments, but he was really very lively and had FUN with family and friends. So pink it is.
In your search for the man, you clearly found him in the details: his love of apples, Mozart, people, and his dog, Fido; and a stepmother that "loved him like CRAZY." If we were in a room with him, what personal qualities do you think would be obvious? I might be going out on a limb, but I feel he would have been quite tall compared to the other people in a room. But he also would have been gregarious, smiling, effusive, and charismatic.
Looking at Lincoln is based on your columns in The New York Times and the book, And Pursuit of Happiness. In adapting those pieced for a children's book, what were some of your thoughts/goals? The first iteration was for the Rosenbach library. That became the New York Times piece and THEN the children's book. I wanted to show that Lincoln was complex and that life was complex. Because that is how it is for all of us, children and adults. But one of the most important parts of being alive is having hope. The courage to go on and continue doing.
Your narrator's ruminations on the President—what he thought about, what birthday gift he might buy for his son, his nickname for his wife—open up his story for readers and invite us to wonder about him. What do you still want to know about the man? I want to know what he would say to Mary Todd Lincoln when they were alone and getting ready for bed. Or having breakfast in the morning. I want to know what he said to her to cheer her up when she was sad. Clearly, I cannot get over the fact that he was married to her and not me.
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